A Learning Curve - Etrian Odyssey 4 - Boyxboy

Chapter 20

AN: I better get this up before I lose my internet again DX Thanking Ame_Tasogare for commenting on the previous chapter! <3

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Chapter 20:

Since becoming an explorer with the Phaedron guild, Achyuta had seen some deathly terrifying monsters and creatures that roamed the many labyrinths. Some of them small, but fierce. Other large and powerful. Some that looked cute and fluffy, while others seemed to be born from nightmares.

But nothing had ever put the fear in him as suddenly as the blue and yellow flowers that were floating silently through the air behind him did. Then again, he had never encountered a monster or FOE that could turn living people into stone statues before. Especially a person right in front of him. With a single attack.

The first person Achyuta saw when he rounded the corner was his brother, Zesiro, who hasty pushed away the Imperial he was at battle with and furrowed his brow in clear confusion. "Flowers?" he questioned, sounding somewhat dubious.

"They can turn living objects into stone!" Achyuta shouted back.

"Well, shit."

"Exactly!" Achyuta paused only for a second to grasp his brother by the arm and pull him along. "Go!"

A yellow and blue flower suddenly darted alongside Zesiro, its petals unfurled and seemingly angry. Instead of slashing at it desperately with his driveblade, Zesiro somehow managed to unhook the gauntlet of his armour and flung it toward the flower. The piece of armour was immediately turned to stone. However, it also served in knocking the flower to the ground, momentarily immobilising it.

"Don't let the little bastards hit the skin!"

Cursing under his breath, Sir Logre kicked at the Imperial that was battling him, pushing them away from him and onto their backs. He then holstered his driveblade upon his back and did something that would be unsophisticated by royal standards, but totally necessary. He picked Prince Baldur up with one arm, wrapping it around his waist and holding him against his side.

With Prince Baldur secure in his grip, Sir Logre ran. And Xander was right behind him.

They left elder Jerimoth cowering in the corner like the deceitful rat that he was and simply ran. Chances were, however, that the flowers would go after moving targets, anyway. There was the slight possibility that if Elder Jerimoth stayed still, he would be unharmed.

Getting out, however, won't be easy.

"Achyuta, hurry!" Sir Logre called out to him. "Follow the ice crystals! That runemaster must have left a trail for us!"

"I owe Kalan a drink then," Zesiro muttered as they ran almost blindly through the red stained hallways. "What happened to Neolani?"

"She was turned to stone," Achyuta replied, not exactly thrilled with the thought, but couldn't help but find ironic justice in it anyway.

And Zesiro seemed to agree. "Tch. Talk about anticlimactic. I expected better of you."

"My apologies for not living up to your standards," Achyuta muttered in response. "At least she received the immortality she wanted. Just...not in the way she wanted."

Zesiro snorted out a laugh. "I'm sure she would have preferred a bronzed statue instead!"

A monster in the form of a giant ram with orange fleece suddenly appeared and growled lowly at right them, right in front of Achyuta, causing him to stumble slightly. He looked up at it, surprised by how it appeared so similar to the ones that roamed the Scarlet Pillars. This one, however, looked far more menacing.